August 18th, 2009
No Apple tablet? Too bad, but not why you think
A while back I wrote that an Apple Tablet, no matter how innovative or cool, would be a non-starter in education without educational content to drive adoption. Now we’re hearing that it won’t be introduced at Apple’s September event, despite a nearly constant churn of rumors about its existence. As PC Magazine notes,
What the keynote won’t feature, of course, is just as big of news. A number of sources are reporting that the long-speculated Apple Tablet will not be making an appearance at the event. The device is apparently on-track for a 2010 release.
I have to say that I’m kind of disappointed that the tablet won’t be coming to market sooner. Not because I’d like to purchase one or have suddenly had a change of heart about Apple, their products, and their prices, but because this is a classic chicken and egg problem.
Without cool devices, no matter how pricey, textbook publishers will continue their brutally slow march towards developing electronic, interactive content. Even more innovative groups like the CK-12 Foundation will struggle with adoption if suitable 1:1 devices that capture students’, teachers’, and parents’ imaginations (like a color Kindle or Apple Tablet) and provide a solid platform for easily using e-textbooks aren’t readily available. I would argue that the Intel Convertible Classmate (or the currently vaporware OLPC XO 2.0) would be a good choice, but they unfortunately haven’t caught on in the way that a sexier product might.
Perhaps more importantly, with Apple leading the charge and driving a market with a consumer-oriented device, the Dells and HPs of the world could (and would) sweep in with less expensive products more suitable to educational environments. Someone has to break the ice, though, so to speak, and Apple has a habit of doing that. We just need to bring a few more chickens to market so that publishers can bring the eggs.
Follow Chris Dawson on Twitter! Christopher Dawson is the technology director for the Athol-Royalston School District in northern Massachusetts and a member of the Internet Press Guild. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations, but always keep in mind that the opinions expressed here are his own and not those of his daytime employer, even if he talks incessantly about his day job.
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